Concerns over U.S. Latecoere purchase overblown - Dassault CEO

Latecoere SA

09/01/2020 14:30

PARIS, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Concerns among French lawmakers
about aerospace firm Latecoere's  LAEP.PA  sale to a U.S. fund
are "overblown", the head of its major client Dassault Aviation
said on Thursday.
    Dassault  AVMD.PA  boss Eric Trappier was speaking as head
of French aerospace industry body GIFAS, after 17
parliamentarians objected to Latecoere's acquisition by
Searchlight Capital, which took a controlling stake last month.
    Latecoere, based in Toulouse, makes aircraft doors and
fuselages and is developing phototronic technologies to deliver
on-board internet access with light instead of wifi. Its 2018
sales amounted to 658 million euros ($731 million).
    "Latecoere is not alone in the market, and it's not
strategic to the point where you could say the sky will fall in
if (its) ownership wasn't French," the Dassault chief executive
said in Paris. "It's a bit overblown."
    Searchlight last year bought a 26% Latecoere stake from
funds including Apollo Capital, before increasing the holding to
65.6% in a public offer backed by the French firm and approved
under foreign investment vetting procedures.
    The 17 members of the parliament's defence and armed forces
committee, most from the governing LREM party, had warned in a
November letter that the 365 million euro ($406 million) deal
raised "questions about the preservation of know-how and
France's defence industry base", urging government intervention.
    Dassault's Trappier said France and Europe should take a
more consistent approach to overseas investment that recognises
their industries' need for foreign capital.
    "This goes to the heart of our companies' attractiveness to
capital," he said. "We do need international funds to invest in
our firms - there's no other solution."
($1 = 0.8999 euros)

 (Reporting by Laurence Frost;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
 ((laurence.frost@thomsonreuters.com; +33 1 49 49 54 52;))